William h



W. H. FITCH.

HANGER FOR FLEXIBLE COVERINGS. FOR DOORWAYS, &c. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7. 1918.

1 307,440. Patented J um 24; 1919.

' to close certain v tecting qualities nae sraras PATENT 1 oFFic FAGTURING COMPANY, OF AURORA,

ILLINOIEQA CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

HANGER FOR FLEXIBLE COVERINGS FOB DOOR-WAYS, 8cm

T 0 all whom-it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. Frrorr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hangers for Flexible Coverings for Doorways, &c., of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

' In many situations it is deemed preferable doorways by means ofdevices made of canvas or other similar flexible material instead of by rigid doors slidingly or hingedly secured in place. In connection with the unusually wide doorways of hangars for aeroplanes it is deemed best to employ such canvas or other flexible curtains as they can be swept to one side very quickly and readily to permit the hurried exit of the machine that is frequently necessary. In order to have approximately the same proagainst rain, snow and Wind storms'as are possessed by metal or wooden doors it is necessary that means be provided for preventing, in large measure at least, the tendency of such flexible closure devices to sway in and out of the doorway. It is also necessary that overhead suspension means be rovided of a character that will enablethe flexible closure to be so moved that the various suspension means will not interfere with each other as by overlapping or becoming entangled, as frequently is found to be the case where suspension rings attached to an overhead rod are employed for suspending such a closure.

It is the object a doorway-closing means it will not easily sway in the wind and which can be moved easily and quickly toward either side of the doorway without liability of the suspension devices becoming entangled with or overlapping each other. I accomplish this objectby t e devices and combinations of devices shown in the draw g and hereinafter particularly described. to be new will be set of my invention'to provide That which I believe forth in the claims.

In the drawings,- V 7 Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a-curtain of flexible material movably supported by means; of my improvements;

7 Specification of Letters Patent.

' a socket for clamping so suspended that suitable material:

Patented June 24-, 1919.

Application filed October 7, 1918. Seria1No. 257,299. I

shown Fig. 2 is an end view of the parts the in Fig. 1, except that the curtain an hanger-track are shown in section; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken at line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referrmg to the.drawings,-5 indicates a hollow track of well-known construction, the

two edges of which are inwardly turned to form track rails upon which runs a'trolley comprising a pair of wheels 6 and a hanger plate 7 which, in the form of construction shown is a plate turned centrally upon itself and having its central portion enlarged and made cylindrical to loosely receive and hold a bolt 8. 9 indicates an apron from the 'up per edge of which and at opposite sides of its central portion rise two cars 10. that terminate in short sleeve members 11 that surround the end portions of the bolt 8. and which I prefer toclamp tightly to such bolt. The .construction described constitutes a hinge connection between the trolley and the apron. The central portion of the apron is bowed outwardly to form a semi-cylindrical socket, and the ends of the apron are turned out at'substantially right anglesto form end flanges 13. 14 indicatesa clamping plate of substantially the same size and shape as the apron 9, except that such clamping plate is not provided with ears and sleeves corresponding to the ears and sleeves 10 and 11 of the apron. wardly bulged or bowed portion 15 corresponding to the portion 12 said portions asthereinafter described. The end portions of the plate 14: arejturned outwardly in the same direction as the central bowedportion 15 to form end flanges 16.. 17 indicatesa pole preferably made of wood, the upper end of which is inserted in the socket formed by the bowed members 12 and15 and clamped therein by ing through openings near the ends of said parts 9 and 1 1, upon which bolts tightening nuts 19 are'scre'wed.

20 indicatesacurtain of canvas or. other secured in any suitable manner at intervals along the length of the sole and having its upper edge extending up to substantially the upper edge ofthe securely The plate 14 has a central out I means of bolts 18 passof-the apron 9, 12 and 15 together constituting a pole between them, a

clamping member 14, as indicated, the upper portion of such curtain lying also between the parts 9 and 14, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and being provided with holes through which the several bolts 18 pass, the holes in the curtain being preferably provided with eyelets 21. I

I contemplate connecting to each end of the curtain a supporting device such as shown, including a pole 17 and as many such devices and poles intermediate the ends of the curtain as may be required. In the illustrationa portion of the curtainintermediate of its length is shown, and hence such curtain thus passes the pole and to which it may be secured below the members 9 and 14 by tacks, screws or other fastening means. At its ends the curtain maybe wrapped to a greater or less extent around the end poles as may be desired. While I have shown the pole-receiving sockets and the poles as being cylindrical, Ido not confine myself to such shape as it is evident that they may be diflerently shaped without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

With curtains hung according to my improvements it is evident that they will bev securely and evenly clamped along their upper edge'to the depending aprons that are. hingedly connected to the trolleys and that they can be pushed to-one side very readily owing to their bending or buckling to one side or the other between the various sets of clan'ipingdevices, and by reason of the smooth running of the trolleys in their overhead'tra-cks. Furthermore, by reason of the oppositely-turned flanges 13 and 16 carried by the apron and the clamping plate, respectively wide contacting or bearing surfaces are provided at each clamping means which will come in contact with the similar turned ends of the next adjacent clamping means and thus effectually prevent any entanglement of one device with another, so that when thecurtali'n is agai'n moved in the reverse direction to closethe doorway such movement can be had as readilyand quickly as in the opening; The depending y it down and in proper place and counteract to a large extent any tendency to sway m or out'of the doorway;

The poles have been described as being:

fio iiei'ot this'apatent may 'be obtained for partially around 7 end of the poles, which extend the full width of the curtain,that is, fromnear the top of the doorway to near the bottom thereof i 'npart sufficient weight to the curtain so as to hold 4 2. A hanger comprising in combination an overhead trolley, an apron hinged there toand depending therefrom and forming.

one member of a clamp, a' second clamp member opposite said apron, each of said members having an outwardly-bowed portion which when opposite each other form a vertical socket and each of said members having its ends turned in the same direction as its socket portion, and means atv each side of said socket for tightly clamping said'members together. a

'8. The combination with an overhead trolley, of an apron hinged thereto and depending therefrom and constituting :one member of a clamp, a second clamp member opposite said apron, a pole having its upper portion between said clamp members, a flexible curtain having its upper incrginal portion between said nected with said pole, and means at each side of said pole for drawing said clamping members toward each other.

a. The combination with an overhead trolley, of an apron hinged thereto and depending therefrom and constituting one member of a clamp, a second clamp member opposite said apron, a pole having its upper portion between said clamp members,

a flexible curtain having its upper marginal portion between said members and between one of said members and the pole, and means at each side of said pole for drawing said clamping members toward each other.

.5. The combination with an overhead trolley, of an apron hinged thereto and depending therefrom and constituting one member of a clamp, a second clamp member opposite said apron, each of said members having an outwardly-bowed portion which when opposite each other form a vertical socket, a pole having its upper portion between said clamp members, afiexiblecurtain attached to said pole,:and means at each side of said vertical socket for'drawing said clamping members toward each other and against the pole.

WILLIAM fivecents each, by addressing: theWG ommissioner of lPa tents Washington, D. G.

members and con- 

